Alongside the fifth session of Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5), the Ministry of Environment (ME) and Korea Environment Corporation (K-eco) hosted a side event titled “Rethinking Plastic Life” with seminars and forums.

The side event offers a discussion platform for international organizations, academia, and NGOs on topics concerning the Global Plastic Treaty, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), as well as government policies, technologies and practices for resource circulation and circular economy.

The Editors from Adsale Plastics Network have attended a few of the seminars and concluded some case studies from Asian countries that worth a discussion.

China: Focuses of the Global Plastic Treaty

Pengkang Lou, Deputy Division Director of the Resources and Circular Economy Division, Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection, NDRC, pointed out that the Global Plastic Treaty should be set up based on four focuses, including:

1. Focus on control and sorting,

2. Whole-chain coordination,

3. Innovation and substitution, and

4. National conditions and cooperation.

He also emphasized that China, unlike some of the developed countries, has dealt with her own plastic waste, instead of exporting the waste to other developing countries for “recycling”.

South Korea: Circular economy action plan

In June 2023, the South Korea set up the Korea Circular Economy Action Plan. The plan includes the following actions:

1. Enhancing circular usability of critical materials, to innovate waste management so that various waste resources can be used in industry;

2. Establishing high-quality waste-derived resources supply chain, improving separation and sorting system, and prioritize high-value-added recycling;

3. Expanding circular use in design, distribution, consumption phase, focusing on life-cycle management of product about assessment of circular usability, packaging and sustainable use;

4. Improving regulation for circular economy, creating new technologies and market through deregulation on location of firms, and implementation of regulatory sandbox.

Indonesia: Ocean plastics

On ocean plastics, Ananda Rizky Purwaningdyah, Secretariat of the National Coordination Team for Marine Debris Management Indonesia, pointed out Indonesia’s aim in 2018 to reduce 70% plastic debris in ocean by 2025. In 2023, a drop of 41.68% of plastic debris in the ocean was recorded.

This is resulted by five strategies, including:

1. National movement to increase the stakeholder awareness,

2. Land-based waste management,

3. Waste management in the coastal and marine area,

4. Funding mechanism, institutional-strengthening, supervision, and law enforcement, and

5. Research and development.

When discussing on the challenges, she stated that the insufficient financial resources, funds, is a great limitation especially for developing countries. The loose policy and law enforcement in waste management also hinder the development towards reducing plastic waste.

Regarding single-use plastics, Indonesia plans to phase out single-use plastics by Jan 1, 2030. The single-use plastics include plastic bags, plastic clamshells, straws, cutleries, PS foam, etc.

Philippines: Reuse and refill projects

Reuse and refill pilot projects are initiated by Greenpeace while expansion was funded by city government funding. The examples include:

1. Deposit return scheme for soda and beer in glass bottle,

2. Refilling of water containers via return-on-the-go or return-from-home systems, and

3. Reusables replacing onsite use of single-use plastic in food and beverages establishments.

Marian Ledesma from Greenpeace Philippine explained that the Global Plastics Treaty can drive a smooth transition to reuse and refill through four ways:

1. Trade restrictions and bans for common and problematic plastic products, such as stand-up pouches (SUPs),

2. Global target for reuse systems, sector-specific targets and priority product categories,

3. Mandate to develop further work on reuse via COPs, and

4. Provide clear definitions and references in means of implementation.